POD7 questions/journey

Hi ladies, for post op ladies I have a couple questions and for pre op ladies my story below ( I know that these recovery stories were so helpful to me when I was waiting for my op so I hope it helps someone 🙂 )

Questions : I am 7 days post op and have been given the ok to shower (woohoo!) I haven’t got any dressings on my incisions now, did anyone else have this ? Everyone I’ve seen has had something on them ?
Also, I didn’t know what I was having until the day of surgery as my surgeon (Dr Fiumara) wanted to see how tight my muscles were. In the end I had 320 in my right and 350 in my left – at the moment they are not looking even .. I guess they will even out over time – did anyone else have this and do you have pictures ??

I know that these op day stories helped me so much so I though I would do mine. My admission time was at 7.30am on the 25th April. I arrived at around 7.20 and waited in the waiting room for about 5 minutes before I was showed to my room. It was a shared room but the other girl was not due in until around 9 so my mum, fiancé and I had the room to ourselves for the run up. I got changed into my gown and sexy paper pants, did my pregnancy test and then the nurse was in strait away to do her checks. After the nurse the anestist came in and the. Dr Fiumara came in to doodle on me…the reality of the surgery hadn’t kicked in until that point ! A few minutes after Dr Fiumara left final preps were made for surgery and then the nurse came in to walk me up to theatre.. I was pretty scary walking in but the nurse was so lovely and chatted to me.. Luckily got the cannula in first time so I didn’t have to wait too long to be put out !
once out of recovery and back in my room I was so sleepy all day ! The nurses kept waking me to drink water and tried to get me to eat some toast and have some tea but I felt quite sick so only managed a little bit. Dr Fiumara came in shortly after to see how I was doing, she said everything went really well and I got the bigger sizes that I wanted- yay ! After a lot of sleeping 🙂 I think I was discharged at around 5pm. I pretty much slept through most of pod1, I had some painful days on day 2 and 3 but then that pain has just turned into uncomfortable. It’s more the tightness and sentive nipples that are getting to me ! Oh and the sleeping thing isn’t great too but slowly day by day it’s getting easier to deal with. I’m POD7 now and have the odd twinge now and again but recovering pretty well x

@laura180291 Congratulations hun! I am 3 weeks post op and at my 1 week check, my strapping was removed and although my incision strips were replaced, I was told I could remove them 4 days later and have my first shower. I think it depends on how quick they have healed as to when the strips are removed and not replaced so don’t worry, the nurse must be happy with how u healed. Whilst I was allowed to shower after removing the strips, I was told not to wash around the incision area but it was fine just to let the water drip down. I was told to continue using the anti bacterial wash in the shower which I did and I just washed my hair separately over the bath. The most important thing the nurse stressed wash to ensure you use a clean towel to pat dry the incision area and to make sure a clean sports bra is worn every day. I was really worried at first and the area felt so vulnerable without the strips but the next day, I had got used to it and now I aren’t worried about it at all….I feel more or less normal again lol. Hope that bit of information helps. I can’t help on the other question but hopefully another girl here can. I can say though that you will have stages of them looking uneven as they settle and this is due to each one healing differently so nothing to worry about at this stage. Happy healing and thank you for sharing your story 🙂 x

@laura180291 Hi Laura, I’m glad you’re feeling better and the recovery is going well. I shared the room with you last Saturday! I saw the nurse on Thursday, she also removed the dressing and told me I can shower now but in Dr Fiumara’s notes that she left with me after surgery it says ‘no showering for 2 weeks’ so I decided to follow her instructions. I’m using wet flannel / baby wipes for upper body and shallow baths for the bottom. I had 300cc high profile and my breasts also look a little uneven. The right one is sitting much higher, and the left one, which used to be the smaller one, now looks bigger then the right one! I think we are in the very early stages of recovery, with lots of swelling still and tight muscles, and in time it will all even out. Apparently it could take 3 months or even longer. Try not to worry, I’m sure it will be fine. Good luck with your recovery! Xx

@laura180291 With regard to the incisions, the nurse told me to gently clean them with warm water (I’m using cotton pads) and dry them with clean towel and to make sure I change my bra every day. Xx

@laura180291 glad it all went well for you! When i had my 1wk check up i had all my dressings removed aswell which i thought was weird because i saw that everyone else had something covering theirs but maybe its because they have healed really quick and didnt need anything? Im 15dpo now and they are still healing really well i shower normally but dont wash the incisions just let water run on them. Happy healing xx

@laura180291 glad your procedure went well, I had my post op check on my 6th day after the operation. Nurse told me that she was happy with my incisions and she didn’t recover them – so I assume that’s a good thing! Nurse told me to not soak them so not baths where they are submereged and told me to dab the incisions dry. Happy healing! xx

Thanks girls, all your advice is so helpful !

@SOPHIE how funny, how is your recovery going ? I know.. I just saw my notes after I had my shower 🙁 think I’m going to do the same and just baby wipe top half until next sat now. What have you done about washing your hair ? I think I overdid it yesterday trying to wash as my incisions are feeling sore today. Another thing was Dr Fiumara said not to take anything like nurofen or ibuprofen as they thin the blood but I’m still pretty achey at night time especially so feel like I need to take something ! Have you been taking anything ? X

@laura180291 Hi Laura, I think you can only take paracetamol. I also struggle at night and haven’t had a good night’s sleep for a week now, but stopped the painkillers two days ago as they made me feel very drowsy. I just managed to put a top over my head today for the first time but feel really sore now. I think I overdid it trying a few tops and putting washing away. I haven’t washed my hair yet (haven’t been out yet!), just used a dry shampoo. I’m going to ask my husband to help me to wash it over the bath tomorrow. Not easy but let’s hope things can only get better!! Xx

Hmm yeah like you said hopefully things can only get better. Definitely had a few days of overdoing it, trying tops on and washing hair hasn’t helped but ice packs seem to be calming down the dull aches.
I’m back to work Tuesday which probably isn’t the smartest idea but just trying to get rested up as much a possible until then !
Hope you have a good recovery Hun, hot water bottles and ice packs have helped me tonnes so try that too ! 🙂 xxx

My hospital prescribed me ibruprophen to take with my codein and said they will help with the swelling .. Mine are not even either but waiting its still early days yet xx

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